


The Sweet Sixteen

by summers-maclay-lehane (ofstormsandwolves)



Series: Sunnydale 2019 [5]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:13:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22559965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofstormsandwolves/pseuds/summers-maclay-lehane
Summary: Buffy's sixteenth birthday ends up being about more than just cake and presents when Giles steps up to continue a Summers family tradition and Faith's flirting hits its mark.
Relationships: Faith Lehane/Buffy Summers, Rupert Giles/Joyce Summers
Series: Sunnydale 2019 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1377481
Comments: 2
Kudos: 63





	The Sweet Sixteen

“Have you given any thought about what you want to do for your birthday?”

Buffy looked up from her breakfast, a mouth full of cereal as she surveyed her mother. Swallowing quickly, she shrugged.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, fixing her gaze on the bowl in front of her. The milk was turning her cereal mushy.

“Well,” Giles spoke up from where he leaned against the counter, sipping his tea, “would you like a party?”

“Or a day out?” Joyce suggested. “Your birthday’s on the weekend, so we could go somewhere if you wanted to. We could go shopping. We could even maybe go to L.A for the day. Take Willow, and Xander, and Faith with us.”

Her mom was sounding optimistic, possibly even excited, and Buffy loved her for it, she really did. But her heart wasn’t really in it. Her heart hadn’t really been in her birthdays for the last two or three years. Not since her dad... Well.

And her parents seemed to sense that, as they shared a look between them. Giles set his mug on the side and moved towards the fridge, pulling an envelope off the top. He crossed to the breakfast bar where Buffy was sitting.

“This might not be the time,” he said, voice apologetic as he placed the envelope in front of her, “and you can say no if you want to. But I wondered if you wanted to go and see this.”

He slid the envelope towards her then, and there was a tension in the room as Buffy picked up the envelope. A glance at her mom told her that Joyce was as confused as she was, and with a frown at her step-father, Buffy opened the envelope carefully and pulled out its contents.

Two tickets to the Icecapades. The tickets were for the day before her birthday.

“I couldn’t get any for the actual day,” Giles admitted awkwardly. “But I thought the night before your birthday was close enough.”

Buffy blinked at the tickets in her hands, and then at her step-dad. “There’s two tickets,” she managed after a moment, still trying to wrap her head around what was going on.

“Yes,” Giles nodded. “I thought perhaps your mother and you would like to go.”

Joyce was watching anxiously in the background as Buffy frowned.

“But... But you bought the tickets. Why aren’t you going?”

It was Giles’s turn to frown then. “Buffy, I know this is something of a family tradition-”

“Dad used to take me,” Buffy said, blinking down at the tickets again. “Every year. For my birthday. Till you and Mom got engaged.” She looked up.

Her mom’s posture was tense, jaw clenched and a look on her face that Buffy knew meant she was trying to hold back tears. She’d looked like that a lot in the months before she and Hank had split and later divorced. Buffy had only been ten, and hadn’t really known why her parents had been so upset, but she recognised the look well enough now. 

And Giles. Giles was tense too. But he was tense in a cautious way, in the uptight stuffy way he’d always acted around her in the early days when he’d just started dating Joyce. Like how he’d been when he’d sat Buffy down and asked her thoughts regarding him asking her mother to marry him. She’d been twelve then, and had thought it was quite funny Giles was so cautious around her. She’d always been a little too unpredictable for him in the early days, and it had taken nearly a year of him being around her for Giles to finally adjust to Buffy enough.

“You don’t have to go, Buffy. I just thought I’d give you the option.” 

Giles’s words startled Buffy out of her thoughts, and she shook herself.

“No! I do want to go!” she cast a glance at her mom, wide-eyed and anxious. 

Joyce’s own anxious expression greeted her, but it softened a little at Buffy’s look. Even without communication, her mother knew what she was asking. 

Taking a breath, Buffy turned back to her step-dad. “Like I said, Dad used to take me every year. And it seems that he doesn’t want to do that anymore, which is his loss, you know? But I don’t wanna miss out on something I enjoy just because of him. And, and I don’t want to only have these weird half-happy memories of the Icecapades, back when my dad actually loved me enough to be involved in my life-”

“Buffy,” Joyce broke in then, and her voice was a little strained.

“It’s fine,” Buffy countered, and she was suddenly aware that she was crying. She sniffed, braced herself, and met Giles’s gaze. “What I’m saying, Giles, is I want to go to the Icecapades, and I want to have happy memories of _going_ to the Icecapades with a father who actually cares about me and wants to be involved in my life. Because that’s what fathers do, and even though it’s stupid, going to the Icecapades _feels_ like a father-daughter thing to me. So...” She let out a breath and straightened her back. “Giles, I want _you_ to take me to the Icecapades.”

Giles blinked at her, apparently lost for words. Buffy’s confidence shattered.

“You don’t have to,” she said hurriedly. “I mean, me and Mom could probably-”

“I’d _love_ to.”

Buffy blinked. “Huh?”

Giles gave her a soft smile in return. “I’d love to, Buffy.”

Ignoring her now-soggy cereal, Buffy shoved the bowl aside and promptly scrambled onto the breakfast bar to give Giles a hug.

* * *

“The Icecapades?” Faith echoed, wrinkling her nose.

“Yeah,” Buffy said, smile fading a little at her friend’s lack of enthusiasm. “It’s nowhere near as childish as it sounds. And, and, the ice skaters are really good. A lot of them are Olympic medal winners.”

“But it’s an _ice_ show,” Xander said, as though that explained everything. “A show performed on ice. How old are we again?”  


Willow hit his arm and he winced.

“I went to _Snoopy On Ice_ when I was little,” Willow chipped in helpfully. “My dad took my backstage and I got so scared I threw up on Woodstock.”

Everyone blinked at that, and Willow flushed and busied herself with picking the sticker off her apple. They were gathered outside the school under a tree, passing time until their next lesson started. There had been discussions of them going by the library for lunch, but Buffy was still a little excited about the whole Icecapades thing and wasn’t sure she’d be able to stop herself from flinging herself at Giles again. So to spare her step-dad the embarrassment, she’d overruled everyone and suggested they sit outside for the hour.

“Anyway,” Willow spoke up suddenly, “it’s pretty sweet of Giles to take you.”

“Yeah,” Buffy agreed, grinning a little goofily. “I haven’t been in a few years, and never with Giles. It should be pretty fun. There’s cotton candy, and souvenir programs, and they do stuff from operas and ballets too.”

“G-man’s a good guy,” Faith shrugged as though it were obvious. “Much better than your dad, anyway.”

Buffy sobered at the mention of her father, and Willow and Xander both glared at the younger girl. Oblivious, Faith continued talking.

“I mean, he’s got to be such an ass to just walk out on you and not even see you once in a while.”

“He doesn’t exactly get on with Giles,” Buffy admitted awkwardly. “Dad accused Giles of trying to take his place.” She laughed mirthlessly. “I guess he has, now. He’s taking me to the Icecapades and meanwhile my real dad hasn’t so much as called in months.”

“Forget about him, then.” Faith shrugged again. “He’s not worth the effort.”

Xander cleared his throat then, sensing that Buffy was growing less and less happy with the topic of conversation. “So, if you and Giles are taking off for this fancy ice show, does this mean there’s no party? Because it’s your sweet sixteen, Buff. Only get one of them.”

Buffy wrinkled her nose. “I dunno. Mom and Giles mentioned a party or going out for the day or something, but it was before Giles gave me the tickets. Mom didn’t even know he’d got them, I heard them talking afterwards.”

“Was she angry?” Willow asked in concern.

But Buffy smiled and shook her head. “No. She was crying a bit though. Kept thanking him and calling him a ‘wonderful man’. Then they started kissing so I got out of there fast.”

Faith snorted at that, and Willow flushed red.

“Well, that’s great,” Xander deadpanned, “but that doesn’t answer my concerns about a lack of party.”

“We’re going to the Icecapades on the Friday night,” Buffy explained. “We’re leaving straight from school, and we probably won’t get home until after midnight. But I’ll speak to Mom. Maybe we can do a movie and pizza night, or something.”

“Sounds good to me,” Xander grinned. “I’ll bring the balloons.”

* * *

Two weeks later, Buffy bounced into school. When the bell rang at the end of the day, she and Giles would be heading off for Los Angeles and the Icecapades.

“Someone’s in a chipper mood,” Willow teased, grinning when she saw her friend.

“Am I not usually?” Buffy asked with a teasing tone.

“You’re not usually so bouncy,” Willow confided, still smiling.

“She’s got you there, B,” Faith said as she came up behind the two older girls. “Man, I do not wanna be any of your teachers today. Are you even gonna be able to sit still in class?”

Buffy stuck her tongue out. “At least I _go_ to class.”

Faith shrugged. “I go,” she countered. “But only when it interests me.”

The three girls set off down the corridor then, as the bell rang for first period. 

“And I’m guessing history isn’t interesting to you?” Buffy deadpanned. “Or geography? Science? English? Math?”

“Ok, ok, I get the picture,” Faith laughed, cutting her off. “But what can I say, B. I’m a bad girl.” She flashed the blonde a grin and winked. “And you love it.”

Buffy blinked, and suddenly Faith was walking away towards a classroom. Flushing, she turned to Willow.

“Is it me, or was Faith flirting with me?”

“Faith flirts with everybody,” Willow said, though she didn’t sound convinced. “I’m fairly certain she’s even tried to flirt with Snyder to get out of a detention.”

With a frown, Buffy allowed Willow to direct her towards their first class of the day. Maybe her friend was right. Maybe Faith flirted with everyone. 

But that didn’t explain the fluttery feeling Buffy had in the pit of her stomach.

* * *

The drive to L.A was quiet; Buffy was still lost in thought about the funny feeling she’d had that morning after speaking with Faith. It had distracted her all day, although her friends had simply assumed it was her excitement over her birthday treat that had her zoning out in the middle of class and the middle of conversations.

“Good day?” Giles asked after a long silence, glancing across at her. “You didn’t come by the library today.”

“We ate in the canteen,” Buffy said distractedly, staring out the window.

Giles surveyed her carefully. “Buffy,” he began slowly. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. If you’ve changed your mind, if you’d rather just go home-”

“No! No, Giles, I want to go! I do!” She let out a frustrated sigh, shook her head. “It’s nothing to do with the Icecapades, I promise. Just...” She trailed off. Did she really want to talk to Giles about this? Wouldn’t that make things awkward? Buffy didn’t even want to talk to her mom about how she felt; it would be way too embarrassing, so why was she contemplating talking to Giles?

He’d fixed his eyes back on the road, trying to give her the illusion of space even while stuck in the car, and Buffy kind of loved him for that. Giles might not be her biological dad, but he tried his best. And sometimes he got things wrong, and sometimes she hated him, or found him annoying or overbearing, but at least he was there for her. Buffy considered that for a moment. She and Giles had had their disagreements, almost as much as Buffy and her mother. But then, just like Joyce, he did something that reminded her that he still cared about her; buying ice cream for her because it was on special offer, treating her to a new top she’d seen at the mall just because, buying the tickets to the Icecapades...

Her mind drifted, then. All the times she and Giles had argued, it had always been about her. About him wanting what was best for her, about him trying so hard to understand her and fit in with her life. She remembered he’d been furious when she’d been kicked out of Hemery. It was the only time he’d ever yelled at her. He’d been so angry... Hadn’t he? Buffy frowned, trying to recall the events she’d tried so hard to forget.

* * *

_“Well I hope you’re happy,” Joyce said, rounding on Buffy the moment the door was shut behind them._

_“Oh, yeah,” Buffy bit back, tears welling in her eyes as she pushed past her mother and into the sitting room. “I’m thrilled! I didn’t ask to be kicked out of school, Mom!”_

_“No, but you did vandalise the campus,” Joyce responded. “And you were present when the gym was burned down.”_

_“But that wasn’t_ me _!” Buffy let out a noise of frustration. “Mom, not even the police held me responsible for the fire, why are you?”_

_“Because this isn’t about the fire, Buffy,” Giles interrupted, tone cold and disapproving. “It’s about the fact you knew socialising with those people would get you in trouble and yet you did it anyway.”_

_She’d thought the police showing up on her doorstep had been bad enough, and the ensuing interview at the station. But even after only being charged with vandalism, and the Court ruling to fine her rather than send her to juvie, Hemery High School had made it clear she was no longer welcome on campus. And with the expulsion had come yet more disapproval from her parents._

_“You’re grounded.”_

_Her mother’s words brought her back to the present with a jolt. It wasn’t surprising, Buffy supposed._

_“And I’m phoning your father,” Joyce added tightly, moving to the phone to make her point._

_Buffy sniffed at that. “Like he’ll care,” she muttered under her breath._

_Giles had been mostly silent throughout the meeting with the principal, observing rather than participating. Buffy knew he still felt a little on the outside of things when it came to her; he was only her step-father after all. But he was wearing a disapproving look on his face that she couldn’t bear to see, and something in her snapped._

_“Whatever you’ve got to say, Giles, just say it.”_

_The words were sharper than she’d intended, and her mother paused halfway through the process of phoning Hank. Giles clenched his jaw._

_“Buffy-” her mother began, tone warning._

_“No,” Giles interrupted, fixing his wife with a tight smile. “You go call Hank. I’ll deal with Buffy.”_

_Joyce surveyed the pair of them carefully then, before leaving the sitting room to make the phone call in peace. Buffy watched her mother go with a sullen expression. A tense silence descended on the room and after several moments, Giles made his way over to Buffy._

_“Do you understand why your mother and I are so angry?” he asked, tone carefully controlled._

_Buffy shrugged, refusing to look him in the eyes. “I screwed up. I lied to you. I got arrested and kicked out of school.”_

_“Yes,” Giles agreed, sitting carefully on the coffee table in front of her so she couldn’t avoid his gaze, “you did. But that’s not why we’re angry.”_

_The girl frowned, finally looking at her step-dad. The angry, disapproving look was still there, but there was something else too, in his eyes, that she couldn’t pinpoint._

_“Are you going to tell me, or is this a game of twenty questions?” Buffy asked sarcastically, unable to help herself._

_Giles arched an eyebrow at her, clearly unimpressed with her attitude._

_“You want to know why we’re angry?” The carefully controlled tone of only a minute or so before was gone now, and Buffy was taken aback at just how angry her step-father was. She’d never seen him this angry, let alone at her. “How about the fact you allowed those children to encourage you to throw your life away? Or the fact you put yourself in deliberate danger?-”_

_“I didn’t,” Buffy protested bitterly, eyes focusing on the wall rather than Giles._

_The man got to his feet, clearly frustrated. “But you_ did _, Buffy. You did! You’ve been lying to us for months about your friends, the boyfriend we knew nothing about, where you’ve been going!” His voice was rising, going from loud to shouting, and Buffy just blinked at him with wide-eyes. “Do you have any idea how terrifying that is for your mother and I? You’re fifteen, Buffy! Anything could have happened to you, and we wouldn’t have known where you were!”_

_“But I’m fine!” she insisted, vaguely aware of her mother still on the phone in the kitchen._

_Joyce’s hushed tones sounded strained and angry, but Buffy could somehow tell that the anger was directed more at her father on the other end of the phone rather than her._

_“But we could have_ lost _you!” Giles stopped, took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down. “Buffy, we don’t care about the vandalism, or the dating. We care about the fact you were in danger! You’ve thrown away your life for people you hardly know!” He shook his head. “Your mother and I could handle the fine, could handle the police investigation, but getting kicked out of school? Buffy, do you have any idea how serious this is?”_

_It was suddenly all too much. She shook her head, got to her feet, tried to push past Giles even as he grabbed her arm in an effort to make her stay._

_“Buffy, please. We have to talk about this!”_

_“Why?” she snapped, whirling round to glare at him. “What is there to talk about? I screwed up, I threw away my future, I’ve let you and Mom down, I get it, Giles, alright? I get it! I don’t need you telling me how much I’ve messed my life up!”_

_Buffy shook her head again, tears welling in her eyes and blurring her vision as she tried to push past her step-dad again. She just wanted to be left alone. She felt bad enough without her parents piling on the guilt, and she could hear Joyce’s strained tones from the kitchen as she relayed the day’s events to Hank._

_“Buffy.”_

_That made her stop. She blinked, tears streaming down her face, smudging her makeup. Something in Giles’s tone made her freeze. It was a strange tone she’d never heard from him before; part desperate, past worried, part gentle. She’d never heard him sound like that. Slowly, she met his gaze. And it hit her. The thing she hadn’t been able to pinpoint earlier, underneath the anger and disapproval. Fear. He wasn’t just worried, he was scared._

_Buffy’s brow furrowed. Why was he so scared?_

_She pulled away. “I don’t want to talk about it.”_

_Giles’s face shuttered at that. “Fine,” he said after a moment, before fixing her with a look. “Go to bed. It’s been a long day.”  
_

* * *

Buffy frowned to herself. She’d never really stopped to think about it- hadn’t wanted to stop and think about it. But Giles had been scared. And he and her mom had been angry not because Buffy had done a lot of stupid stuff- ok, not _completely_ because of that- but because she’d been in danger. And they had been angry about the fact she’d scared them.

The one time Giles had ever yelled at her, and it had been because he was so scared of something bad happening to her, so scared that she’d ruined her life just to be popular. Meanwhile, her dad had simply phoned her to give her a lecture about behaving herself and then not spoken to her again. She still hadn’t heard from him, and the whole Hemery incident was almost eight months ago. But Giles? Giles was right next to her. Even after scaring him so much, even after he’d had to pay a fine for something she had done, he was still there, and still treating her to the Icecapades.

“I don’t think I deserve this,” Buffy blurted out suddenly.

Giles frowned, and glanced over to her. “What do you mean?”

She shrugged, a little embarrassed. “I just... Why did you buy me these tickets, Giles? I got arrested! You had to pay a fine- a _huge_ fine- because I vandalised the school! And we had to move to a new town just to find a school that would take me, and now you’re working as a _librarian_ even though you’re some super-clever historian guy who should be giving lectures or something, and, and-”

She broke off, unable to breathe, and Giles was wide-eyed in the driver’s seat.

“Breathe. Buffy, just breathe, it’s ok.” 

She tried to do as he said, she really did, but Giles was looking all pinch-faced and serious. There was nowhere for him to pull off, they were too close to Los Angeles, and Buffy could see that it was frustrating her step-father. So she forced her attention back to her breathing, forced herself to calm down. As her breathing evened out, Giles seemed to relax a little.

“Are you alright?” he asked cautiously, glancing over at her.

Buffy nodded, a little embarrassed. “Yeah.”

There was a silence for several moments.

“Buffy,” Giles said at last, voice quiet and gentle. Buffy wasn’t sure she deserved it. “You do know that your mother and I don’t still blame you for what happened in Los Angeles?”

She blinked at him. “Y-You don’t?” Her voice was soft and unsure, but hopeful. “But I messed up.”

“You did,” Giles acknowledged, eyes on the road. “But I did a lot of stupid things when I was a teenager, and so did your mother. The important thing is that you know what you did was wrong, and that you’re sorry for what happened.”

“I am! I’m really, _really_ sorry.”

He nodded, smiling a little at the emotion in her words. “Then why should we still punish you? Why can’t I treat you on your birthday, if you’ve already learned from your mistakes and moved on? I’ll admit, the move to Sunnydale was a little stressful and unexpected, but we moved for you, Buffy.” He glanced over at her then, a soft smile on his face. “I will do whatever job I have to do, as long as you’re happy at school. We moved so that you could get an education, and so that you could have a fresh start and get your life back on track, and that’s what you’re doing. So if I want to take my daughter to the Icecapades for her birthday, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Buffy blinked as she processed Giles’s words then. A slow smile spread across her face. “Ok.”

“Ok,” Giles agreed with a grin.

A more comfortable silence fell over them then.

“You know, this wasn’t what I was going to talk to you about,” Buffy said suddenly, laughing a little as she remembered what had made her panic in the first place.

“No?” Giles asked.

Buffy shook her head, smile fading. “No.” She took a breath, and then looked over at her step-father. “I think I like Faith.”

Giles was silent for several moments. “Care to elaborate?”

The teenager swallowed. “I mean I think I like Faith. As in, _like_ her.” She frowned. “Giles, I think I want to date her.”

She watched as her step-father processed her words. 

“I think,” he said at last, “this sort of thing requires ice cream. Think you can wait until we get to the Icecapades?”

* * *

“How was it?”

Joyce was all smiles when Giles and Buffy came through the door at nearly half past midnight. Buffy was clutching a souvenir programme tightly in one hand, and had a huge grin on her face.

“It was _so_ good,” the teen said excitedly. “I’d forgotten how much I loved it. You should have seen it, Mom, I swear it’s even better now than it was last time I went.”

“Good,” Joyce smiled, trying not to laugh too much at her daughter’s enthusiasm. “Now, why don’t you go get ready for bed? It’s pretty late, and you’ve got Willow, Xander, and Faith coming round later for your birthday.”

Before heading upstairs, Buffy made sure to give Giles a tight hug, and her parents watched in mild amusement as she disappeared upstairs.

“So,” Joyce asked with a smirk, “how was it? Did she make you buy lots of cotton candy?”

“An inordinate amount,” Giles sighed as he pulled off his coat. “It was good. Buffy enjoyed herself, and I have to admit that I did too.” He paused. “We talked on the drive up there. She seemed to think she didn’t deserve the tickets because of what happened at Hemery.” 

Joyce let out a sigh at that. “And what did you tell her?”

Giles shrugged. “That we won’t continue to punish her when she already understands what she’s done is wrong. And that if I want to take my daughter to the Icecapades for her birthday, then that’s what I’ll do, regardless of poor decisions she may have made in the past.”

That made Joyce smile then. “You’re a good man, Rupert,” she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Now, I suggest we get some sleep before Buffy’s friends invade the house for the day.”

* * *

Buffy had a lazy birthday morning, sleeping in after the long day she’d had the day before, and was greeted by a birthday brunch when she eventually made it downstairs.

“Rupert told me about the talk you two had yesterday,” Joyce confided quietly while she and Buffy sat at the kitchen island snacking on the brunch Giles had prepared.

“Did he?” Buffy asked cautiously, wide-eyed as she tried to figure out which conversation her mother knew about.

“He did,” Joyce confirmed as she helped herself to more fruit. “And I just want you to know, Rupert and I aren’t still angry about what happened in Los Angeles. You made a mistake, and you apologised and learned from it, and as your mother that’s all I can ask.”

Buffy felt herself relax a little at that; not only had Giles not spilled about Faith, but also hearing her mother confirm what he’d told her the day before was rather reassuring.

“And,” Joyce continued gently, “you can come and talk to Rupert or I any time. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, Mom.” Buffy nodded.

Joyce smiled at that, and brushed a stray strand of hair behind Buffy’s ear. “Good. And happy birthday, sweetheart.”

* * *

As it was, Xander and Willow didn’t show up until two that afternoon. 

“Faith said to tell you she’s on her way,” Willow said as she gave Buffy a hug. “Apparently she didn’t tidy her room and Gwen won’t let her leave until it’s done.”

“Which means Faith should be here just in time for cake,” Xander joked, moving to hug Buffy as Willow stepped aside. “There is cake, right?”

“We’ve got cupcakes,” Buffy told him as she hugged him back. “But I’m under strict instructions to keep you away from food until it’s time to eat.”

“From who?” Xander demanded jokily as he released Buffy. “Who’s denying me food?”

“That would be me,” Giles deadpanned as he appeared in the dining room doorway. “I’ve seen you eat, Xander, and the rest of us would like some food before you demolish it all.”

A knock on the door interrupted any potential argument Xander had been about to respond with, and Buffy was relieved to find Faith waiting on the porch for her.

“Happy birthday, B,” the brunette greeted, pulling Buffy in for a one-armed hug as she stepped inside, a glittery pink gift bag dangling from her other hand. “How was the fancy ice skating last night?”

 _Oh god_ , Buffy thought. The fluttery feeling in her belly was back. She gave Faith a shy smile. “It was good,” she said. “I even made Giles eat cotton candy.”

“It was horrible,” the man in question chipped in with an exaggerated grimace.

Faith laughed, one arm still flung around Buffy’s shoulders. “Come on, B. You opened any presents yet?”

“N-No,” Buffy said, hoping no one caught the slight stutter.

Faith grinned. “Then what are we waiting for?”

As Buffy allowed the younger girl to pull her into the sitting room, she tried to ignore the knowing look on her step-dad’s face.

* * *

It was a little before seven when Buffy snuck out to the back porch. They were all taking a break before queuing up the final movie of the night, and she’d wanted some fresh air. They’d spent the afternoon laughing and chatting while Buffy opened presents, and at a little after four her parents had joined them for movies and food. Pizzas had been ordered and consumed, and snacks had been demolished. And throughout it all, Buffy had sat with Faith’s arm around her shoulder.

Every now and then, both Willow and Giles had given her pointed looks, and Buffy had felt more than a little nervous. Her stomach still felt funny, and she was even a little worried she might be sick. So she’d escaped to the back porch for a little space and fresh air, and after several minutes she was starting to feel a little more at ease.

“You ok?”

Buffy startled at that, and looked round to see Faith in the doorway, a concerned look on her face.

“Yeah,” Buffy managed. “Just getting some air.”

Faith closed the door behind her and moved to sit beside Buffy on the steps. “You’d tell me if something was wrong, yeah?”

A tense smile. “Sure.”

The younger girl fixed Buffy with a look at that, clearly not convinced.

“So,” Faith said at last. “Sweet sixteen. How does it feel, B?”

“About the same as fifteen.” Buffy smiled, a more genuine smile that time.

Faith smiled back, and suddenly Buffy’s stomach was doing strange, fluttery things again. She swallowed.

“Faith?”

“Yeah?”

“I...” Buffy swallowed again. Her eyes were on Faith’s lips. She couldn’t tear her gaze away, not even if she wanted to. “I think I’d like to kiss you.”

Silence. Then:

“Ok.” Faith’s voice was soft, almost cautious in a way Buffy hadn’t heard before.

The distance between the two girls disappeared and suddenly Faith’s lips were on Buffy’s lips, and Faith’s lips were soft and pliant under Buffy’s, and _oh my god I’m kissing Faith Lehane..._

Buffy pulled back and blinked. Faith’s brown eyes blinked back at her, her face a little dazed.

“I think I wanna do that again sometime,” Buffy said a little breathlessly.

Faith’s eyes were on Buffy’s lips now. “Fine by me.”

Buffy nodded, and stared across the darkening garden. “So, uh, does... Does this mean we’re...?”

“Dating?” Faith asked.

Buffy nodded again, not trusting herself to speak.

“I think I’d like that,” Faith said slowly, as she too stared across the garden. “My girlfriend, Buffy Summers.”

“My girlfriend, Faith Lehane.”

The girls grinned at one another.

“We should get back inside,” Buffy said after a moment, even as her eyes were drawn once more to Faith’s lips. “The others will be waiting.”

“Yeah...” Faith echoed, even as she leaned closer to Buffy. “Waiting...”

Their lips locked again, a little less tentative than the first time. A questing tongue demanded entry at Buffy’s lips, and she parted them a little.

“Buffy?” Joyce called from inside the house. “We’re starting the movie!”

The girls jerked apart, laughing a little in embarrassment.

“We definitely need to go back inside,” Buffy said, pushing herself to her feet.

Faith grumbled under her breath, but got up anyway. And as they headed back inside, she slipped her hand into Buffy’s and flashed her a wink. Buffy grinned.


End file.
